Just a few days before they drop the puck on the 48-game lockout shortened NHL season, the Blackhawks & 720 WGN Radio have announced an extension of the team's radio rights deal.

The Tribune-owned news/talk outlet, which has carried the Hawks since 2008-09, have signed a new 5-year deal to continue as the flagship for the team's radio broadcasts until 2018-19. Both Blackhawks President John McDonough & WGN Radio Interim General Manager Jeff Hill are both excited about extending what is already a successful partnership.

Financial terms of WGN's Blackhawks extension weren't disclosed, but the deal does include times where the Hawks can be bumped in favor of Cubs baseball at the same time during the spring. The games can be relocated to another AM station and/or online in the event of such conflicts with WGN's longtime baseball broadcast partner.

Interesting timing. I think what this tells us is that as low as the Blackhawks' stock is right now on the heels of a totally pointless lockout, 720's is even lower. They just re-upped with the Hawks a year or two ago, and now tacked on another five years. They're scared of one of two things: losing the Cubs down the road, or their daytime programming falling even further into the abyss. Or hey, both!

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